5 Biggest Unsolved Crimes in History

Elizabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia, was a woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California in 1947. Her case became publicized due to the gruesome nature of it, which is still one of the biggest unsolved crimes in history.

Her murder was done by mutilation of her corpse, which was bisected at her waist. Even though it’s unsolved, she’s often the basis for many books and films, as her death is cited as the most famous crime in history.

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JonBenet Ramsey is still one of the biggest unsolved crimes in history. The six-year-old beauty queen was found dead in the basement of the family home of a wealthy Boulder, Colorado executive and a socially ambitious wife after Christmas, 1996.

What’s strange is that there was a long handwritten ransom note found in the home. Her father found the body seven hours after she had been reported missing, and sustained a broken skull from a blow to the head and had been strangled. The death was ruled a homicide, and the case generated public and media interest.

At first, the Boulder Police Department thought that Patsy, the mother, had written the note and was all staged to cover up the murder, however, there was just not enough evidence to determine the culprit. The crime is still considered a cold case and remains an open investigation.

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In 1971, a passenger on a Northwest Orient Arline Flight on Thanksgiving Even threatened to blow up the plane unless he received $200,000 cash, which is equivalent to $1.5 million today). D.B. Cooper successfully hijacked the plane and was given the money after he released the passengers in Seattle.

He then instructed the flight crew to refuel and begin the second flight to Mexico City. During the next trip, he parachuted into the night over southwestern Washington and was never caught. In 1980, a small portion of the money that he ransomed was found along the banks of the Columbia River near Vancouver, but for over 40 years the FBI has still searching. Not only is this one of the biggest unsolved crimes in history but the only unsolved crime of air piracy in history.

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The Zodiac Killer is a popular name for crime enthusiasts, as he’s part of one of the biggest unsolved crimes in history. The Zodiac Killer is the pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s.

Due to his being one of the most famous unsolved murder cases, he’s become a focus for many amateur detectives as well as a fixture of pop culture. He killed five known targets in San Francisco, and seven wounded victims, with two surviving, in Benicia, Vallejo.

He received his name from his taunting messages that he mailed to regional newspapers where he threatened to kill or bomb if the letters were not posted. The last letter received was in 1974 where he claimed to have killed 37 people, saying he did so to collect slaves for the afterlife. Truly a bone-chilling case that is still a mystery.

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Similar to the Zodiac Killer, Jack the Ripper is a famous name for true crime fans. He’s the center for many films and books as the public is obsessed with the crimes. He’s the center of one of the biggest unsolved crimes due to being an unidentified serial killer active in and around the Whitechapel district of London, England in 1888.

Jack the Ripper usually targeted women working as prostitutes who lived and worked in the slums of the East End of London, where he usually cut the victim’s throats before doing abdominal mutilations.